A Delhi court has dismissed a complaint filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case, granting significant relief to Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The court held that the material placed on record by the agency did not disclose sufficient grounds to proceed against the accused under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The ED’s complaint stemmed from allegations of financial irregularities linked to the takeover of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), the company that publishes the National Herald newspaper, by Young Indian Private Limited. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are majority shareholders in Young Indian, which the agency had accused of being used to acquire AJL’s assets through unlawful means.
While dismissing the complaint, the court observed that the prosecution failed to establish the existence of proceeds of crime, a key requirement for initiating money-laundering proceedings. It noted that mere financial transactions or corporate restructuring, without demonstrable criminal intent or illegal gains, cannot automatically attract liability under the PMLA.
The court further underlined that criminal law cannot be invoked on the basis of assumptions or conjecture and that investigative agencies must meet the statutory threshold before seeking prosecution. As a result, the proceedings against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and other accused persons in the complaint were brought to a close.
The order marks an important development in the long-running National Herald matter, providing legal relief to the Congress leaders while reaffirming judicial scrutiny over the use of stringent economic offence laws
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